Amazon plans $33b cloud, AI investment in Southeast Asia

Amazon said on May 21 that its planned cloud and AI infrastructure investments in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand will exceed US$33 billion by 2039.

The company is expanding data center capacity and related operations in Southeast Asia.

The company said its economic impact assessments project the spending could support more than 56,300 full-time equivalent jobs each year and add over US$64 billion to the four markets’ combined GDP by 2039.

Amazon also said it has trained more than 2.7 million people in Southeast Asia in cloud skills since 2017.

The company also invested over US$3 billion across the region in 2025, including infrastructure and employee compensation.

🔗 Source: Amazon

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Amazon looks past data centers to satellites

Amazon is building a low Earth orbit broadband business through Project Kuiper, now branded “Amazon Leo.” Low Earth orbit sits close to Earth and hosts many communications satellites 1.
In Vietnam, the company has pledged US$570 million by 2030 and applied for a controlled pilot that would offer Project Kuiper on a trial basis, according to Vietnam’s Ministry of Science and Technology 2.
The plan focuses on remote and island communities. It also includes local partnerships to build about six ground stations, which link satellites with land networks, plus a terminal factory in Bac Ninh province 2.
The effort ties Amazon’s cloud business to internet access in places where service still falls short 3.

Satellite rivalry shapes Vietnam’s rule change

Amazon will face SpaceX’s Starlink in Vietnam. Starlink already has approval for a five-year pilot in the country 2.
Amazon’s entry comes after long talks between SpaceX and Vietnam over foreign ownership limits 2.
Vietnam’s pilot program allows full foreign ownership for companies running low-orbit satellite networks 2.
That opening has drawn large promises linked to market access. SpaceX pledged US$1.5 billion in Vietnam in September 2024 during those ownership talks 2.